Hedge funder John Paulson’s divorce has turned nasty after his wife, Jenny Paulson, turned down a whopping settlement offer said to be worth billions.
Page Six exclusively revealed last September that John was getting an epic divorce after 21 years of marriage. He is worth more than $4 billion, and there’s no prenup, according to sources.
Now Jenny, 50, has terminated all private settlement discussions and chosen to go back to court to fight John, 66, for more money and marital property.
This sets the stage for an epic divorce battle over his billions and their extensive property holdings, which include estates in Southampton and Aspen as well as a 28,000-square-foot apartment in Manhattan.
John, who insists he was committed to settling amicably, tells Page Six exclusively, “I have been trying to meet in person with Jenny and her lawyers to discuss a settlement for the last eight months. She has rejected all offers of arbitration or mediation.”
John’s lawyer, Bill Zabel, adds, “People would have been astounded by the generosity of Mr. Paulson’s offer, which would have given Mrs. Paulson far more than what is required by law. Her greed has created an insurmountable obstacle to settlement.”
Zabel alleges that Jenny has also attempted to take money from trusts set up for the estranged couple’s two teenage daughters “to enrich herself,” which she strongly denies.
John created the non-amendable trusts over 20 years ago for the purpose of protecting their children, but now Jenny “wishes to seize the assets in these trusts for herself,” according to Zabel, who tells us, “To do so would be unconscionable, and neither New York nor Delaware law would permit it.”
Making the situation even more sour, Jenny claimed she found out about the divorce on Page Six — as well as the fact that her estranged husband is dating 34-year-old dietician Alina de Almeida.
Sources said the new couple met last summer, and things have been going so well that they are living together in John’s swanky Fifth Avenue apartment in Olympic Tower.
De Almeida, from Montclair, NJ, is a certified registered dietician and expert in weight loss counseling who runs the company Effective Lifestyle.
John withdrew the divorce case in October in an attempt to reach an amicable out-of-court settlement, but it has been refiled in Suffolk County, NY, near his large mansion in Southampton.
Meanwhile, Jenny’s attorney, Robert S. Cohen, insists she is not trying to access her two daughters’ trusts for her own gain. He tells us, “There is no issue with her trying to take money from the kids. She is a terrific mother.”
Cohen, of the firm Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich, says they had been in personal negotiations for six months to try to reach a settlement, “but [John] was offering her an allowance that he would control,” adding, “Husbands who have made a fortune in a marriage do not give their wives allowances.”
John famously made $20 billion betting against the housing market before the 2008 crash.
Cohen adds, “He is trying to put pressure on her to accomplish a settlement, and it is just wrong.”
The post Billionaire John Paulson and wife in bitter battle over billions appeared first on Page Six.
